Chander: Charles, A Dragon: Beginnings

By Gary Henderson

He happens upon a town being burnt down by a man ... or something that looks like one.

He stops the destruction, but only by leading the beast on a chase that only one can survive. Is it gone?

Again it attacks, searching for him by name and putting many in danger. How can this ancient evil be defeated?

The Lady of Combin calls.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Young Reader's Library
• Release date: Dec 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781937975623

Book preview

Copyrights

Copyright © 2019 Gary Henderson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.

Cover background photo: iStock.com/leonid_tit

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RNWC Media, LLC

Imprint: Young Reader’s Library

Series: Charles, A Dragon

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Link to RNWC Media

Link to Chander website

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Chander / Gary Henderson – 1st ed.

ISBN: 978-1-937975-30-2 Print Version

ISBN: 978-1-937975-62-3 Electronic Versions

Dedication

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To those who have enjoyed meeting Charles

and want to know more about Charis, Chander, and Lali.

Thank you.

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And to Marilyn, Grace, and Abi —

What a great editorial team. I appreciate you so much!

A Dragon Walks the Town

Long ago, where the mountains dropped quickly to meet the coast, there was a small city by the sea. Chander looked down from the low peak that rose up on the east side of town and watched as small fires broke out one after another. It looked as though someone were simply walking through town and tossing flame into buildings, one after the other.

The fire was not spreading from building to building, it was popping up in buildings that were not even next to each other … every minute or so a new one would start, and from where he stood, they seemed to be in a straight line.

A line headed in his direction.

The main road through town came to the foot of the hill he was standing on, and the arson, if that was what was happening, appeared to be moving straight towards him. He began running down the slope, dodging trees, sliding down dirt and gravel banks, catching a branch now and then to keep from falling, and he finally tumbled down to the small field that marked the end of that main road.

He took a deep breath, stood up, and looked down the street. Far away, there were crowds of people trying to deal with the fires. Closer, there were no fires. Yet. But there was a man walking towards him, and as he passed certain buildings he seemed to wave his hand … no more, just wave his hand … and a fire burst forth from a window or a door.

Chander walked quickly towards him, with no idea at all what to do, but absolutely sure no one else could stop this madness.

Two blocks away, the man saw Chander coming and stopped. He simply stood in the middle of the street and waited. When Chander was only a block away, the man waved at another building, and fire exploded from the second story balcony. He acted as though he were bored, waiting for the next bus to arrive.

Chander kept walking at a fast pace, directly towards him, and said, Stop it.

The man looked off to the other side, and raised an arm just as Chander got there and threw himself across the man’s body to knock him down. They rolled into the dirt, and when Chander quickly scrambled to his feet, it was no longer a man he faced.

The face of the fire-thrower grew long, pointed, and dark, mottled green. His legs grew longer, and claws appeared. His chest became a wall of scales, and a tail appeared that could throw a man half a mile if it swept across him.

In a deep, grinding voice, the creature looked at Chander and said, Who are you, little man?

Indeed, it was looking down at Chander from eyes that were now even with that second story balcony.

Chander. Who are you?

The man-turned-beast laughed, if the sound can be called a laugh, and said, I would tell you, but you will not live long enough to tell it back to me!

Chander waved a hand across in front of him and dove towards the creature, as the tail came flying around in a great, deadly circle.

A cry of pain burst from the dragon. What have you done? I cannot see!

But he could still hear, and Chander was not about to answer that question. He moved in close to the great, muscular legs, and tried to think of something he could do.

You are still here, I smell you!

Chander spoke the necessary words, and a stinking black cloud boiled up from his hands, wrapping around the dragon’s face and body.

Aaggggghhh, it bellowed, and shook its head back and forth. Then it leapt from the ground, wings pulling the air like a gymnast pulling on a bar, and it was quickly high in the air. As it bellowed and began to fly, Chander ran to the side of the road and threw himself behind a stack of barrels in an alley.

Where are you, Chander-man? I cannot see, and I cannot fly this way!

Chander made more smoke, and hoped it would billow up to where the dragon hovered, keeping his sense of smell hopelessly polluted.

I will find you, Chander-man … you will wish we had never met! The dragon kept climbing and coughing and snorting, and flew out towards the sea until it disappeared.

Chander stood up, and came out from the barrels and the alley. People were trying to deal with the fires near him, now, and he asked someone, Who was that man starting the fires?

Never seen him before today, never. And he didn’t talk to anyone, best I know. Just appeared, and fires started lighting up.

The man was in a hurry, but Chander asked one more question: Any dragons in this country?

The man turned back to him and stared. You believe in dragons? He shook his head and left, running to grab a bucket and get it filled with water from the trough nearby.

As he lifted the full bucket and started back across the street, the man looked at Chander once more and said, No. No dragons. Are you going to help us, or just stand there gawking?

Chander-Man

The beast flew until he was sure nothing was below him but the sea, and coasted slowly down until his heavy body struck the waves. He dove under the surface. Cold, salty water washed away the stink of the black cloud the man had created, and when he came back up to the surface he could see again.

Chander… chander-man, he muttered, and rolled it around in his mind, letting it sink in deep so he would not forget.

The town was one of many, chosen at random just to enjoy playing with the fire he so easily made, and to watch it swallow up the fragile buildings the people liked to build. One of many, but … is that where Chander-man would be found?

He did not think so. The man came from the hills behind the town, not from the town.

If he waited, the man might leave, and then… how could he find him?

But if he went back to the town, and smelled … maybe he could find him. Tonight. Different clothes, different face… he could pretend to be whatever he wanted. They would not know it was the same man … or woman … who burned their town today.

Chander would know.

Thinking about the battle, he remembered noticing the smell of Chander-man as he approached. The smell of power. The smell of blood rich with something that was almost gone from the world… so that would be the key.

He could find the man with the magic in his blood, and that would be Chander-man.

And then … he smiled, for the first time that day.

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As the sun set that evening, a woman appeared on the docks, as though she were walking in from one of the boats, except that she had not gotten off a boat.

She was a slender woman, with something a bit odd about her. Her clothes did not seem quite right for someone from the town, a bit more towards green and brown than usual. And her hair was … pulled tight, perhaps, it just did not come to her shoulders the way other women wore theirs. She did not speak, but nodded to those she passed. Because she was not familiar, and because she was more than normally attractive, people noticed. Some turned to watch her go by.

In fact, she was beautiful, more so than most, and perhaps that was why people looked back at her after the first glance. And nodded back. And watched, as she walked.

Something about her walk seemed unusual, as though she had been in a terrible accident, and was having to learn to walk again. Nothing in particular, but, something, something was not quite … normal.

She came up the main road from the docks, and stepped up onto the boardwalk on the north side of the street. The road itself was hard-packed dirt, and sometimes mud, so people used the boardwalk out of habit.

As the woman walked among the people, she seemed to do a bit more than nod at them. She seemed almost to smell them, to look towards them and sniff, just a small thing, but a sniff with her eyes partly closed as though concentrating, and then walk on.

Some thought she was about to speak, when she smelled of them, and paused as they passed by, but she did not say a word. She simply refocused on what was in front of her and kept moving. They looked at her quizzically, and then walked on themselves.

She walked several blocks and came to the end of the main street, very near where Chander had first come off the hill. She stopped there, and looked at that hillside for a bit. She looked up at the mountain behind it.

Then she carefully stepped down from the boardwalk, crossed the street to the south side, and began walking back towards the dock.

She came to a building full of people, with lights inside and music playing. She pushed open the simple swinging door, a half-door, really, ‘bat-wings’ as they are called, and stepped in. As she stood in the doorway, people began looking at her and nudging each other. They stopped talking, as they looked, and so the room became quieter and quieter.

When no one at all was speaking, the man playing the piano noticed it. He looked up, and saw that everyone in the room was looking at the beautiful woman who stood in the